1941
1941
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Battle of Crimea begins
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1941
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Battle of Crimea ends
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2 January 1941
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US announces it will build 200 freighters -- the Liberty ships
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5 January 1941
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After their defeat at Bardia, Italian forces retreat to Tobruk
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6 January 1941
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British troops of the XIII Corps, led by General Sir Richard O'Connor, surround Tobruk
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8 January 1941
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British planes bomb Italian battleships Giulio Cesare and Vittorio Veneto at Naples harbor
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10 January 1941
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US Congress starts debates on Lend-Lease program
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11 January 1941
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Hitler orders creation of the Afrika Korps
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14 January 1941
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German commerce raider Pinguin attacks Arctic whaling fleet
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16 January 1941
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British carrier Illustrious hit by German aircraft at Malta
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19 January 1941
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Hitler meets with Mussolini at Berghof
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19 January 1941
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British forces invade Eritrea
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23 January 1941
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HMS Illustrious leaves Malta for Alexandria
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26 January 1941
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Italians withdraw from Mechili
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1 February 1941
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German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper leaves Brest
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3 February 1941
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Germany army commanders present Russian invasion plan to Hitler
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5 February 1941
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British troops capture 5,000 Italian prisoners at Beda Fromm
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7 February 1941
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The fall of Beda Fromm marks the end of the first British offensive in North Africa; length of campaign was ten weeks; it covered 500 miles; and the British destroy 130,000 men of the Italian Tenth Army
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8 February 1941
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First German troops leave for North Africa from Naples
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9 February 1941
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British ships HMS Ark Royal, HMS Renown and HMS Malaya attack Italian harbors Genoa, Livorno, and La Spezia
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10 February 1941
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First British paratroop operation ends with the capture of the entire force at Taranto
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11 February 1941
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First German troops (5th Light Division) land in North Africa at Tripoli
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11 February 1941
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Admiral Hipper attacks Convoy HG-53; one ship is sunk
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12 February 1941
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General Erwin Rommel arrives in North Africa; he is under the command of Italian General Gariboldi
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12 February 1941
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Admiral Hipper attacks Convoy SLS-64; nine ships sunk or damaged
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22 February 1941
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Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sink five ships
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24 February 1941
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British ship HMS Dainty is sunk by German planes at Tobruk
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25 February 1941
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Mogadishu is captured by Allied forces
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26 February 1941
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Eleven ships of convoy OB-290 are sunk by German planes; U47 called in the attack
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1 March 1941
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Bulgaria become Axis power, joins Tripartite Pact [Bulgaria]
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2 March 1941
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German troops enter Bulgaria
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4 March 1941
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British troops land in Greece
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4 March 1941
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British Commando units launch the Lofoten Raid; the troops land at Lofoten Islands off Norway; 215 German prisoners captured
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7 March 1941
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U47 commanded by Prien is sunk by depth-charges
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10 March 1941
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British forces enter Abyssinia
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11 March 1941
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The US Congress passes the Lend-Lease Bill which will provide billions of dollars of war materials to the Allied powers [United States]
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16 March 1941
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The first successful use of radar by surface ships to sink a U-boat (U99)
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27 March 1941
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Coup in Yugoslavia; General Simovic becomes head of government
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31 March 1941
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15th Panzer Division lands in Tripoli
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5 April 1941
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German troops invade Yugoslavia
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6 April 1941
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Battle of Yugoslavia [Yugoslavia]
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6 April 1941
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British Generals O'Connor and Neame are captured by German forces in North Africa
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8 April 1941
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Allied troops capture Massawa in East Africa
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8 April 1941
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229 British bombers attack Kiel in the largest single target raid for the RAF so far
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8 April 1941
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German heavy bombers attack Belgrade; bombing continues for two more days
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9 April 1941
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German troops capture Thessaloniki in Greece
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9 April 1941
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237 German bombers raid Birmingham
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10 April 1941
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German forces capture Zagreb; some Croats defect to German side
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10 April 1941
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First military encounter between Germany and the US; destroyer Niblack attacks a U-boat
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11 April 1941
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Tobruk completely surrounded by German troops
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11 April 1941
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First escape from the POW camp at Colditz castle; escapee is French officer Alain le Ray
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13 April 1941
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Russian and Japan sign a neutrality agreement
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13 April 1941
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Japan and Soviet Union sign neutrality agreement
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16 April 1941
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Ante Pavelic is elected head of Croatia, a new sovereign state with close ties to Germany [Croatia]
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17 April 1941
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Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany 12 days after the invasion
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18 April 1941
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Alexander Korizis, prime minister of Greece commits suicide
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19 April 1941
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British troops arrive in Iraq
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21 April 1941
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The Greek army surrenders to the Germans
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24 April 1941
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Allies and Greek royals evacuate from Greece to Crete
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5 May 1941
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Emperor Haile Selaissie re-enters Addis Ababa; he is the first lawful sovereign to return in triumph to his country
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10 May 1941
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Rudolph Hess, deputy leader of the Nazi Party, crash lands near Glasgow, Scotland; his true mission is still a mystery
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10 May 1941
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Last heavy bombing mission by the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain
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13 May 1941
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Martin Bormann becomes the new deputy leader of the Nazi Party
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14 May 1941
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Aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal
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16 May 1941
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German aircraft bomb Crete
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17 May 1941
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The Italian commander in East Africa, the Duke of Aosta -- Prince Amedeo Umberto, surrenders his forces to the British
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19 May 1941
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Germany releases 100,000 French POWs in return for greater collaboration with Vichy France
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20 May 1941
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Battle of Crete
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21 May 1941
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British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Hood leave Scapa Flow; their mission is to find and sink the Bismarck
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22 May 1941
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British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious and battleship King George V join the hunt for the Bismarck
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23 May 1941
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Bismarck is found sailing between Greenland and Iceland
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24 May 1941
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Bismarck and Prince Eugen engage and sink HMS Hood, only 3 people out of 1416 live; HMS Prince of Wales damaged
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24 May 1941
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Aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and battlecruiser HMS Renown leave from Gibraltar to join the hunt for the Bismarck
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26 May 1941
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As the Bismarck nears Brest she is spotted by a British patrol plane
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26 May 1941
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Aircraft from the HMS Ark Royal score two hits on the Bismarck slowing the battleship down
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27 May 1941
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Allied troops begin to evacuate Crete
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28 May 1941
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Allied troop evacuation of Crete ends; 16,500 soldiers are evacuated, most to Egypt
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31 May 1941
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The last of the Allied troops on Crete surrender to the Germans
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1 June 1941
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British cruiser HMS Calcutta is sunk off Crete
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1 June 1941
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British troops enter Baghdad
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1 June 1941
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British leave Crete
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8 June 1941
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British forces invade Syria, attacking Vichy French forces
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9 June 1941
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The Luftwaffe begins to position aircraft in forward positions for the attack on Russia
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15 June 1941
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British forces begin counter-attack at Halfaya (Operation Battleaxe) to relieve pressure at Tobruk
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17 June 1941
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Operation Battleaxe ends in failure for the British
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22 June 1941
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Germany invades Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa [Germany]
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23 June 1941
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German submarine Wolfpack attacks convey HX-133; two U-boats are lost; 5 merchant ships are sunk
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25 June 1941
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The British submarine HMS Parthian sinks French submarine Souffleur
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27 June 1941
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Battle of Minsk
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29 June 1941
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Finland declares war on Russia
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30 June 1941
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General Archibald Wavell is replace as commander-in-chief, Middle East by Churchill; General Claude Auchinleck is the new commander
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1 July 1941
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RAF bombs Brest harbor damaging the Prince Eugen
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3 July 1941
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Vichy forces in Syria surrender to the Allies
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7 July 1941
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US forces arrive in Iceland allowing the British to free up valuable soldiers for action else where
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10 July 1941
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Four Italian divisions leave for the Eastern Front
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11 July 1941
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President Roosevelt asks for appropriations of $3.3 billion for the US Navy and $4.7 billion for the US Army
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12 July 1941
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Russians and British agree not to make a separate peace with Germany
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16 July 1941
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Battle of Smolensk
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23 July 1941
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Italian aircraft attack a supply convoy heading to Malta; numerous ships are damaged including a cruiser
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24 July 1941
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British aircraft raid the Scharnhorst at harbor in La Pallice; Scharnhorst is put out of action for the rest of the year
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26 July 1941
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General MacArthur is appointed commander of US troops in the Philippines
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26 July 1941
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The US and Britain freeze Japanese assets in their respective countries
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27 July 1941
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Japan occupies French Indo-China
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31 July 1941
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General Cruwell is now head of the Afrika Korps; General Rommel is head of the Panzer Group Afrika
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31 July 1941
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Soviet T34 tanks are used on the Eastern Front for the first time
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1 August 1941
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The US bans the export of oil and aviation fuel outside of the Western Hemisphere (except for Britain) in a move against Japan
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2 August 1941
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The US extends Lend-Lease to include Russia
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3 August 1941
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Bishop of Munster, Clemens August Graf, speaks out against Nazi atrocities
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7 August 1941
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Stalin appoints himself commander-in-chief of the army
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8 August 1941
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The Russians send a bombing raid against Berlin; one plane gets through and drops its bombs
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9 August 1941
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Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt meet in Newfoundland to discuss the war
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9 August 1941
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Atlantic Charter adopted
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12 August 1941
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The first British bombing raid to use the Gee navigation device attack a railway target at Munchen-Gladbach
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14 August 1941
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Britain and US sign the Atlantic Charter
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14 August 1941
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German spie Josef Jakobs is executed at the Tower of London
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18 August 1941
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Hitler orders the deportaton of the remainder of Jews in Berlin deported to the ghettos in Poland
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21 August 1941
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German forces cut the railroad between Leningrad and Moscow
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21 August 1941
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The first Artic convoy for Russia leaves Iceland
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24 August 1941
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Vichy France passes anti-terrorist laws in order to combat the Resistance; terrorists are to be given the death penalty
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27 August 1941
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Assination attempt fails against Pierre Laval the vice-premier of Vichy France
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28 August 1941
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The Iranian government resigns; the new government begins talk with the Allies
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29 August 1941
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Mussolini meets with Hitler at Rastenberg in East Prussia
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30 August 1941
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General Milan Nedic is made head of Nazi puppet state of Serbia
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1 September 1941
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Hitler orders that all Jews over the age of six in occupied Europe must wear a Star of David on their clothes
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3 September 1941
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Russia calls up all men aged 18 or over for military service
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4 September 1941
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Soldiers of the Legion of French Volunteers leave Paris to join the German army on the Eastern Front
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4 September 1941
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US destroyer Greer and U652 engaged in combat off the coast of Iceland
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8 September 1941
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Siege of Lenigrad begins; Leningrad surrounded by German and Finnish troops [Russia]
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8 September 1941
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First use of the American B-17 Flying Fortress by the British in a mission targeted at Norway
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8 September 1941
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600,000 ethnic Germans in the Volga region are exiled to Siberia in fear of fifth column activities
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11 September 1941
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The first British Hawker Typhoon fighter enters service
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16 September 1941
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Allies occupy Tehran; Shah of Persia, Reza Shah Pahlevi, abdicates; his Allied friendly son, Mohammad Reza replaces him
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16 September 1941
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Convoy HX-150, the first convoy to get formal protection from the US Navy, leaves for Europe from Halifax, Canada
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18 September 1941
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Roosevelt asks for appropriations of $5.9 billion for Lend-Lease
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19 September 1941
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Battle of Kiev begins
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23 September 1941
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Charles de Gaulle announces in London the formation of a national committee as the legitimate French government in exile
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24 September 1941
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The first German submarine enters the Mediterranean via Gibraltar
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25 September 1941
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German forces cut off the Crimea from the rest of Russia
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26 September 1941
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Battle of Kiev ends
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27 September 1941
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First set of Liberty ships are launched in the US
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28 September 1941
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Allied representatives meet in Moscow; first time major Allied combatants meet
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29 September 1941
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Reinhart Heydrich becomes deputy protector of Bohemia and Moravia
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1 October 1941
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Japanese troops are repulsed at Changsha
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2 October 1941
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Battle of Moscow begins [Germany]
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2 October 1941
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The Messerschmitt ME163A rocket aircraft sets a new speed record of 623 mph [Germany]
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9 October 1941
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Turkey signs trade agreement with Germany
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12 October 1941
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Civilians start to leave Moscow as German troops advance on the city
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16 October 1941
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Japanese Prime Minister Prince Fumimaro Konoye resigns; General Hideki Tojo becomes Prime Minister
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16 October 1941
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Petain orders the arrest of former prime ministers Daladier, Blum, and Reynaud
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17 October 1941
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All US merchant ships in Asian waters are ordered to dock at friendly harbors
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18 October 1941
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Tojo becomes Japanese Prime Minister
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21 October 1941
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Fifty hostages are executed in Nantes, France in retaliation of the assasination of the regional military commander Lieutenant-Colonel Karl Holz
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23 October 1941
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General de Gaulle requests that the French Resistance stop assassinating German soldiers to avoid German retaliation against French civilians
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24 October 1941
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German troops capture Kharkov
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25 October 1941
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British battleship HMS Prince of Wales leaves for Singapore; Prince of Wales is desginated the flagship of the Far East fleet
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27 October 1941
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Lord Louis Mountbatten appointed director of Combined Operations (commando forces)
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30 October 1941
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US gives Russia a $1 billion interest free loan in order to buy Lend-Lease equipment
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31 October 1941
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US destroyer Reuben James is sunk while escorting a convoy in the Atlantic
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3 November 1941
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German forces capture Kursk
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3 November 1941
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Germans take Kursk
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10 November 1941
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The Japanese fleet charged with attacking Pearl Harbor under Admiral Nagumo leaves Tokyo
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11 November 1941
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US extends Lend-Lease to include the Free French
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13 November 1941
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US Congress revises the Neutrality Act of 1939 to allow US merchant ships to unload munitions in British ports
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14 November 1941
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Aircraft carrier Ark Royal sinks near Gibraltar after sustaining damage by a U-Boat the day before
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18 November 1941
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US light tank M3 Stuart first used (with British troops during Operation Crusader)
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18 November 1941
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A small British commando unit attempts to capture or kill General Rommel; the raid fails
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21 November 1941
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First attempt to break-out of Tobruk by Allied troops fails
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22 November 1941
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German raider Atlantis sunk by HMS Devonshire off the coast of West Africa; Atlantis had sunk 22 Allied ships
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24 November 1941
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German forces withdraw from Rostov
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25 November 1941
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Battleship HMS Barham is sunk by U-boat; Barham, the second British battleship to be sunk, is the only Allied battleship sunk in open seas by a U-Boat
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26 November 1941
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Lieutenant-General Ritchie takes command of the British Eigth Army; he replaces Lieutenant-General Cunningham
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27 November 1941
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The last Italian troops in Ethiopia surrender to the British
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27 November 1941
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Free French General Georges Catroux proclaims Lebanon's independence
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29 November 1941
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General von Reichenau replaces Field Marshal von Rundstedt of Army Group South after Rundstedt withdrew from Rostov which was against Hitler's standing order of no retreats
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30 November 1941
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First successful use of air-to-surface radar when a British bomber finds and sinks U206
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6 December 1941
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Soviet army begins counter offensive against Germans
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7 December 1941
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Japanese launch surprise attack on U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor [United States]
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8 December 1941
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United States declares war on Japan [United States]
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10 December 1941
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Prince of Wales sunk
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11 December 1941
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Germany and Italy declare war on United States
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14 December 1941
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Japan invades Burma
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24 December 1941
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Japan takes Wake Island
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25 December 1941
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Japan takes Hong Kong
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